LA MANGA, Spain (March 5, 2012) –The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team opened its three-match run at the La Manga Women’s Under-19 Ten Nations Tournament with an impressive 2-0 victory against France.

The U.S. team is playing up in age against teams that feature players one and two years older in this exhibition competition, where each country will play three matches.

“Overall, I was very pleased, coming in and playing well against a very good French team,” said U.S. head coach Albertin Montoya. “This is a good starting point for the tournament. Our goal throughout this competition is to continue playing better possession. In our last camp, we competed well against Germany but the soccer could have been better. It looks to me like we're already improving from the last camp so now it's all about finishing touches. Overall, a good performance, and hopefully it will continue to get better."

After a tight and scoreless first half, the USA got on the board three minutes after the break, but it came via an own goal. Defender Brittany Basinger received the ball near the right sideline about 30 yards from the net and beat the outside back on the dribble. She took the ball inside the penalty area to the end line and crossed on the ground toward the top of the six-yard box, where a French defender inadvertently knocked it past her own goalkeeper.

The Americans doubled their lead in the 67th minute when Summer Green hit a lofty corner kick from the left side. The ball dropped to forward Andi Sullivan’s feet at the far post and she took her chance first-time, hitting it low and hard across the goal from six yards out. The ball skidded past the ‘keeper and just inside the left post.

“In the second half, we were able to get in behind them and we possessed the ball well, so we got a couple good goals out of some good play from us,” said Montoya. “We were a little fortunate on the first goal, but we created that with the pressure we put on them. The second goal came from a great build-up that resulted in a corner kick and we finished well.”

The U.S. will face England on March 6 and finish the tournament with the Netherlands on March 8.

The U.S. team is currently preparing for CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying that will be held from May 2-12 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, as the Americans will try to earn a berth to the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan.